Bck Truffle.
Perhaps due to his financial struggles, Naoki's first thought upon seeing it was: This thing must be worth a lht?
But theiced the buff effect:
[Although it doesn't have any beneficial effects, it signifitly enhahe effect of cooking.]
What was this? Some kind of advanced ingredient?
Naoki could vaguely uand its value based on his experieh simir ingredients in games from his previous life.
In those games, adding sugredients to dishes not only increased the level of effects from lv1 to lv3 but also had the potential to turn temporary buffs into perma ones.
This made bck truffles incredibly valuable.
This was a good find!
Naoki carefully uhed the entire bck truffle.
Seeing his as, the Cyclizar id down beside him, holding its breath. Only after the palm-sized truffle was safely tucked into Naoki's backpack did it look up and ask curiously, "Groo?"
"This is great stuff that improve our quality of life!" Naoki expio the Cyclizar with a smile. He weighed it in his hand aimated the bck truffle to be about one kilogram.
As a yman, he didn't know the exact price of bck truffles, but judging by its size and quality, he could tell it wouldn't be cheap.
Gng at the sky, Naoki saw that it was getting te, so he hopped onto the Cyclizar a carry him back to the ranch.
At five o'clo the afternoon, Naoki had just returo the rand was about to pour himself a gss of water when he heard a whistle from outside.
"Ding ding ding!"
He walked out the door and saw a van with a wave logo pulling up.
The driver, a burly man with muscur arms and a buzz cut, leaned out the window and said enthusiastically, "You must be Naoki, the new owner of this ranch? Mayor Cvell told me about you. I'm Zack from Mesagoza Market, and I'm responsible for purchasing goods from nearby ranches. Pleased to meet you!"
"Hello, Mr. Zack," Naoki greeted politely.
Zack turned off the engine and jumped out of the van. He looked around and noticed the freshly tilled farmnd. Grinning, he said, "Looks like you've got the hang of ranch life! Got anything to sell?"
Zack was just making casual versation. He knew a novice rancher wouldn't have mature crops, wool, or milk to sell yet.
After all, developing a ranch took time.
But the sed, he saw the new ranch owner pull out a rge, bck object.
Zack, with his extensive knowledge, instantly reized it.
His eyes widened in surprise. "A Bck Truffle? Wow! This size is incredibly rare. Where did you find it?!"
"The back mountains," Naoki replied. " I sell it?"
Zaodded eagerly. "Of course! This thiches a high priormal quality bck truffles go for about 5,000 Pokédolrs per kilogram. The quality and size of the one you have are top-notch. This kind of bck truffle is hard to e by in the market, and the price is around 15,000 Pokédolrs per kilogram."
Its uaste was sought after by many, especially the upper css among the wealthy and aristocratic families.
They weren't short on money.
Fifteen thousand Pokédolrs per kilogram?
Naoki did the math. In other words, the bck truffle in his hand was worth a total of thirty thousand Pokédolrs?
Naoki was tempted by the price.
Should he sell it?
This level of rare ingredient could greatly enhahe effects of Pokémon food when cooked.
Could he...?
If he sold it, he would have enough moo buy seeds, repair the ranch, and stock up on food.
For a moment, Naoki hesitated.
But then, he made a decision.
He had to think long-term. Even though the bck truffle could improve his cooking, exging it for cash would accelerate the ranch's development and ultimately gee more ine.
Ohe ranch was thriving, he could use the moo buy h-quality ingredients with simir effects.
With that in mind, Naoki no longer hesitated and decided to sell it.
Zack retrieved a scale from his van, weighed the truffle, and poio the reading. "Two kilogram and Two hundred grams."
He pulled out a calcutor and a small notebook, did some quick calcutions, and then announced, "The total es to 33,000 Pokédolrs."
"Okay," Naoki nodded.
"Then I'll take this bck truffle off your hands!" Zack said as he pulled out a stack of bills from his wallet and ha over.
Naoki took the money, ted it carefully, a out a sigh of relief.
The first money he had earned as a rancher was now in his hands! He could finally stop eating bnd instant ramen!
Zack still had to visit other rao collect goods. Before leaving, he looked around the rand suggested, "Aside from growing crops and raising Pokémon, there are many other ways to make money. Haven't you been to Cascarrafa yet? If you go there, remember to buy a fishing rod from the general store. While your crops are growing, you earn some money by fishing."
"Ah, but don't worry too much. It's tough at the beginning, but it gets much easier in the summer. Then, besides growing regur crops, you also cultivate Leppa Berries to make juice. Berry juice with that farm-fresh fvor is very popur in big cities!"
Leppa Berries?
Naoki raised an eyebrow at the familiar name.
However, he wasn't thinking about brewing juice. Instead, he wondered if the berry juice he made might have some strange effects, like his cooking...
Naoki nodded, keeping his thoughts to himself, and said to Zack, "I'll keep that in mind. Thank you very much."
Zack smiled cheerfully. "Good luck!"
After seeing Zack off, Naoki returo the and eyed the small piece of bck truffle left oable - a fragment that had broken off while he was digging it up.
"Bck truffles are so valuable. I wonder if training a Diglett could help uncover more hidden underground..." Naoki mused.
He decided to keep this small piece, saving it to enhance a future dish wheime was right.
As for now...
Looking at the thick stack of Pokédolrs in his hand, Naoki's spirits soared.
It was time to go shopping in town and buy some new ingredients for cooking!
Naoki hopped onto Cyclizar, pointed in the dire of town, and the Cyclizar took off.
As they rode, Naoki gazed at the su-painted sky and hummed a tune, "Riding on my beloved little motorcycle~"
"Groo?"
The Cyclizar looked back, puzzled. His beloved little motorcycle? Was he talking about him?
